Weak teachers could be paid less than the very best performers under
Government plans to improve standards of state education, it has emerged.

Ministers are considering plans to create a clearer link between pay and classroom performance as part of a new drive to boost results and attract the best graduates into the profession.

The disclosure came as a cross-party group of MPs warned that a new system of performance-related pay was needed to stop the worst teachers hiding behind a “rigid and unfair” national salary structure.

In a report published today, the Commons Education Select Committee said staff should be rewarded for “adding the greatest value” to pupils’ education and given paid sabbaticals to further boost their skills.

MPs claimed the reforms should be introduced amid fears that poor teachers are having a “very significant” impact on children’s long-term career prospects.

The report quoted international research that showed the worst teachers could cost their class the equivalent of £250,000 in lost future earnings compared with those taught by an average performer.

It follows warnings from Ofsted last year that teaching was not good enough in more than four-in-10 schools, with “dull” lessons leading to poor standards of classroom behaviour.

Last night, it emerged that Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, has already written to the national body that reviews teachers' salaries to seek advice on how the Government can “strengthen the link between pay and performance”.

Recommendations on the issue are expected to be delivered by September.

But the move has been attacked by teaching unions who are strongly opposed to any attempt to dismantle national rules on pay and conditions.

They have already threatened strike action over proposals to introduce regional pay rates across the public sector.

But the cross-party committee's report said: "No longer should the weakest teachers be able to hide behind a rigid and unfair pay structure.

“We believe that performance management systems should support and reward the strongest teachers, as well as make no excuses – or, worse, incentives to remain – for the weaker.

“Given the profound positive and negative impacts which teachers have on pupil performance, we are concerned that the pay system continues to reward low-performers at the same levels as their more successful peers.”

Currently, there are more than 460,000 teachers working in English state schools.

An element of performance-related pay already exists. Teachers outside London can earn a standard salary of up to £31,500 as a conventional classroom teacher but see their pay rise to £34,200 if they pass the “threshold” into the upper pay scale to mark good performance.

Earlier this year, Sir Michael Wilshaw, the head of Ofsted, said that too many teachers – more than nine-in-10 – were allowed to pass the threshold.

“The thing that irritates good teachers, people who work hard and go the extra mile, is seeing the people that don't do that being rewarded," he said.

The select committee admitted there were “political and practical difficulties” with an enhanced system of payment by results, but added: "The comparative impact of an outstanding teacher is so great that we believe such difficulties must be overcome."

In further recommendations, the report said a “sabbatical scholarship” programme should be developed to allow outstanding teachers to take time out of the classroom to work in a different school, undertake research or refresh their subject knowledge.

It was also claimed that sixth-formers and university undergraduates should be allowed to lead lessons in schools as part of a system of “teaching taster classes” to show them the benefits of a career in the profession.

MPs said all teacher trainers should observe potential recruits in the classroom before offering them training places to prevent unsuitable candidates starting courses.

Nick Gibb, the Schools Minister, said the DfE had already asked the School Teachers’ Review Body, which analyses national pay rates, to "make recommendations on introducing greater freedoms and flexibilities in teachers’ pay, including how to link it better to performance".

"We welcome the committee’s report into this important area, and will consider its recommendations in full and respond in due course," he added.

But Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: “Payment by results is total nonsense.

“Children are not tins of beans and schools are not factory production lines. Successful schools rely on a collegiate approach and team working. Performance-related pay is not only inappropriate but also divisive.

“Children and young people differ and class intakes differ from year to year making it impossible to measure progress in simplistic terms.”

She said it would “create even more difficulties for schools facing the most challenges because teachers will realise that they will get no thanks for teaching their students but will get more money by going elsewhere”.